This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
In an effort to reduce fossil fuel emissions and other pollutants emitted from automobiles that use internal combustion engines, hybrid electric automobiles (HEV) and electric automobiles (EV) have been designed and implemented to mitigate the environmental effects of the internal combustion engine. HEVs and EVs may include a battery system that powers a motor utilized for driving the vehicle. The battery system may be charged by connecting the battery system to an electrical grid by way of a cable.
The battery system may also connect to the electrical grid by implementing a wireless or contactless charging system (i.e., wireless power transfer system). A wireless charging system may utilize the mutual inductance between two inductive coils to provide power to the battery system of the HEV or EV. The electrical grid may induce a voltage at a first coil and, as a result of the inductive coupling between the first coil and a second coil connected to the battery system of the HEV or EV, the second coil will induce a voltage and subsequently charge the battery system of the HEV or EV.
The wireless charging system can require one transmitting coil for each receiving coil. The number of transmitting and receiving coils is equal to the number of vehicles to be charged by the wireless charging system. For example, a charging station that charges a battery in a vehicle via wireless charging may be capable of charging up to four vehicles and, therefore, may require one transmitting coil for each of the vehicles. The costs associated with the transmitting coil, the power electronics circuits used for supplying electric voltage to the transmitting coil, and the overall infrastructure of the charge station can be expensive and complex. Thus, a more cost effective wireless charging system may be needed for charging multiple vehicles.